No-rub hard surface cleaner comprising an alcohol ethoxylate-amine oxide surfactant mixture and a nitrogenous builder in aqueous solution

Abstract

Improved results are obtained in the no-rub cleaning of hard surfaces when the cleaner used in the process is an aqueous solution of (A) about 40-50% by weight of a nonionic surfactant mixture of an alcohol ethoxylate and a C 8-16 alkyldimethylamine oxide in a weight ratio of about 5-15/1 and (B) correspondingly, about 60-50% by weight of one or more nitrogenous builders.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A no-rub hard surface cleaner which comprises an aqueous solution of (A) about 40-50 parts by weight of a nonionic surfactant mixture of an alcohol ethoxylate and a C 8-6  alkyldimethylamine oxide in a weight ratio of about 5:1 to about 15:1 and (B) correspondingly, about 60-50 parts by weight of one or more nitrogenous builders in an amount of water such as to provide a solids content of at least about 0.15% by weight; said nonionic surfactant mixture and nitrogenous builder constituting at least about 95% of the total weight of solids in the solution. 
     
     
       2. The process of claim 1 wherein the alcohol ethoxylate is a compound corresponding to the formula Z(OCCH 2  CH 2 ) n  OH in which Z is an alkyl group containing 8-16 carbons and n is an integer of 2-15 such that the ethoxylate has an HLB number of at least 12. 
     
     
       3. The process of claim 2 wherein n is an integer of 5-8. 
     
     
       4. The process of claim 3 wherein the alcohol ethoxylate is a 6-EO ethoxylate of dodecanol. 
     
     
       5. The process of claim 3 wherein the alcohol ethoxylate is a 6-EC ethoxylate of a mixture of decanol and dodecanol. 
     
     
       6. The process of claim 1 wherein the amine oxide is N-tetradecyldimethylamine oxide. 
     
     
       7. The cleaner of claim 1 wherein the nitrogenous builder is selected from the group consisting of the alkali metal and ammonium salts of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid, and nitrilotriacetic acid. 
     
     
       8. The cleaner of claim 1 wherein the nitrogenous builder is a mixture of ethylenediamineaminotetraacetic acid and nitrilotriacetic acid builders in a weight ratio of about 0.5:1 to about 2:1. 
     
     
       9. The process of claim 8 wherein the ethylenediamineaminotetraacetic acid/nitrilotriacetic acid builder weight ratio is about 1.1to about 1.5:1.